On the Road to Worcester

Raoul’s Two Cents: September 5, 2025

New Yorkers: Still Weird, Still Wonderful

I lived in New York right after college. I worked there as a one-man Art Department for a classical guitar company where I designed posters for classical Spanish guitar legends which were displayed in Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center.

One morning. In a train packed with fellow workers, I realized I was part of the infamous Rat Race. I was a rat among the rats! I didn’t want to be jaded, eccentric and have superficial relationships for the rest of my life so (in a few months) I left the Big Apple.

Last week I was back in NYC

I found the city’s pulse unchanged — same wild energy, same eccentric souls. Fashion’s evolved though — tattoos and sneakers-with-suits replace Clairol curls — but the “come as you are” dress code still thrives. Pajamas? Sure. Cell phones? Glued to every hand.

Californians drive. New Yorkers walk

Unlike LA’s car-bubble isolation (where I live), New Yorkers collide on subways, yet stay lost in their own heads. Panhandlers break the trance, demanding attention in the melting pot of Blacks, Whites, Asians, Puerto Ricans, young, old, gay, straight — diversity’s poster child, no doubt. At the MET (Metropolitan Museum), it’s a global guessing game: which country is that tourist from? And one of them stole my wife’s water bottle by mistake. We knew it, (after discovering her own water bottle in her bag) she knew it, but she was too embarrassed to admit it.

The subway’s a circus

A Hispanic-African American woman scrolls her phone; a younger lookalike sits beside her. Mother and daughter, unaware? Wild odds! It’s New York … anything can happen. The city hums with 8.5 million people (Tokyo’s 37 million laughs at that), trains rumble, tap water’s crisp and delicious, parking’s a nightmare — but I still love the city. Before you visit, remember that walking’s non-negotiable—get in shape! I wasn’t. I suffered. I almost died!

One odd note: faith’s scarce. Just one teen in a “Jesus is the Way” cap stood out. A godless city vibe? Maybe.

Then I saw the weirdest New Yorker of them all: a lanky old man in baggy jeans and a “I paused my game to be here” T-shirt … pathetically clinging to youth. Wait! — that’s my reflection in the glass!

TGIF people!

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Quotes of the Week

“If you live in New York, even if you’re Catholic, you’re Jewish.”
— Lennie Bruce

“The state bird of New York is the jaywalk.”
— Archie Bugler

“New York is like living inside Stephen King’s brain during an aneuryism.”
— Kevin Rooney

“Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’”
— Matthew 9: 37-38

Joke of the Week

Thanks to Cheryl of Arcadia, California

Original art by Raoul Pascual.

Parting Shots

Thanks to Kanye of Ontario, CA

Thanks to Colleen of Washington State

Thanks to Fred of Long Beach, California

Thanks to Art of Sierra Madre, CA

Thanks to Tom of Pasadena, CA

Sad but true

Thanks to Drew of Anaheim, CA

Thanks to Norm of Encino, CA

I found these:

My good friend (and jokester) Terry and I came up with these.

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